In 2025 we will enter a new era of security by design for our digital playgrounds.
Online games are places where billions of people around the world gather to play, socialize and relax. However, they are also environments where harassment, hate speech, and preparation for violence and sexual exploration often occur. Today, most players of online games report being directly targeted or witnessing one or more of these acts. 2024 report received Eighty-two percent of players report being directly victimized, and 88 percent have witnessed some form of so-called “toxic” behavior. Sexual harassment and hate speech are quite common, with more than 70 percent of game players saying they have witnessed these behaviors while gaming.
In the most serious cases, players face violations of privacy and their right to life, for example, when their private personal information is shared online for the purpose of intimidation—so-called doxxing. At the beginning of 2024, for example, a Organized hate campaign Started against the small narrative design studio Sweet Baby Inc. Believed to be pushing a “woke agenda” in sports with his mentor, his employees received several rape and death threats.
There are many reasons why sports are associated with hate and discrimination. The most important factor, however, is the lack of industry-wide innovation. for instance, video games are Often aside In Regulatory Conversations About Online Security. Proprietary data OwnershipAnd (understandably) no company wants to be the first to publicly talk about online vulnerabilities and security challenges. Sports are, at the end of the day, businesses too. Talking about one’s shortcomings is unlikely to be something that garners shareholder support.
However, in 2025, we will finally begin to see industry-wide efforts prioritizing security. Some of these shifts will be due to government orders. While video games have long been left out of the regulatory conversation, they draw attention to some new initiatives that have recently been implemented. For example, the Digital Services Act The European Union requires gaming companies that operate there to submit public-facing transparency reports about online harm within their space and the effectiveness of their tools to combat them. For the first time, it will allow industry-wide insights into strategies and their effectiveness in the gaming ecosystem.
In 2025, we will also begin to see the effects of the sports industry’s efforts at self-regulation. Over the past several years, there have been many trust and security initiatives led by the games industry from an ecosystem, industry-level approach. For example, in 2024 we saw the release The Digital Thriving Playbook From the Thriving in Games Group, which provides educational content and step-by-step guides for game developers on how to build more resilient communities, and approaches to trust and safety issues in games. It also includes content curation and community management approaches, as well as guides to teamwork by design, trust by design, and building social behavior in gaming communities.
Last year also saw another success with the partnership between Epic Games and The International Age Rating Coalition To create an internationally recognized rating for all user-generated content created for Fortnite. Historically, player-created content has not been rated, leaving users to make their best guess at age-appropriateness from the name, image, and description of the experience. The integration of rating systems on user-generated content will allow players (and parents) to make more informed decisions about what and how they will play. In 2025, other game makers will follow suit to support players’ ability to make informed choices about which (out of billions of pieces) of user-generated content is safe and appropriate for them to engage with.
To be clear, a safe community does not mean there is no risk. Hate, harassment, and other forms of social harm will always exist in some form online. But in 2025, the video game industry will finally have more coordinated security strategies to better protect players from social harm. As the world’s largest media sector, the video game industry is long overdue for this innovation, and for prioritizing player safety and well-being. As I see it, 2025 promises to be a transformative year that sets a new standard for security in our digital playgrounds.
